Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi, who has been named the “Mexican Madonna”, is on tour again. The singer, whose star shot up in the nineties and who used to be the symbol of sexual liberation an rebellion for then-teenagers, did not record or tour for nine years.

 The reason is that she had to spend 5 years behind the bars.

Trevi, together with her manager Sergio Andrade and two backup singers
were arrested and charged of rape and kidnapping of the young wannabe starlets. The singer
had spent some time in Brazillian prison and was later transferred to
Mexico. Trevi mysteriously got pregnant while being in jail.
She initially claimed she was raped by a prison guard, but the DNA test proved that Andrade is a father of the singer's son Angel Gabriel.

Trevi was cleared of charges and released on September 4, but Andrade stayed in jail with the same charges.

Her album of songs recorded in prison, entitled "How the Universe Was Born," had lukewarm sales in Mexico, where Trevi's name seems to be forever tarnished by her involvement in a sex scandal. However, the album sold more than in 100,000 copies in U.S. and received a nomination at the Latin Billboard Awards for best album.

"We really love martyr stories," Los Angeles-based Latin music critic Ernesto Lechner told Chicago Tribune. "It's almost like a novella, and we love the novella. An immigrant who struggled to come here may identify with someone who has suffered and gone through hell."

But in an telephone interview for Chicago Tribune Trevi said she's not trying to promote her «innocent victim» image.

"I hate the word `victim.' I don't like the word `martyr' either. I am a survivor," she said.

Trevi's tour began in her hometown of Monterray in front of 8, 000 fans. Her US tour begins next month in Nevada.